Full Text of SR0388 95th General Assembly
SR0388 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| SENATE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, Ridership on Amtrak is increasing rapidly | 3 |
| throughout the United States and at Chicago's Union Station; | 4 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, Chicago's Union Station is the hub of Amtrak's | 6 |
| nationwide network; and
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| WHEREAS, Chicago's Union Station currently serves over | 8 |
| three million Amtrak passengers and over 30 million Metra | 9 |
| passengers annually; and
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| WHEREAS, The entire facility was redesigned in 1989 in a | 11 |
| way that forces all passengers into waiting rooms that do not | 12 |
| have adequate capacity and leaves the Great Hall largely empty; | 13 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, The passenger waiting facilities are overcrowded, | 15 |
| creating an uncomfortable experience for passengers; and
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| WHEREAS, The ticket counters are poorly placed and often | 17 |
| overcrowded, with no room for expansion; and
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| WHEREAS, The Great Hall is an architectural gem with marble | 19 |
| floors and walls, long Corinthian columns, and a 112 foot tall |
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| vaulted skylight; and | 2 |
| WHEREAS, The Great Hall is best used as a passenger waiting | 3 |
| facility, as originally designed; and | 4 |
| WHEREAS, The current owner of Chicago's Union Station, | 5 |
| Chicago Union Station Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of the | 6 |
| National Railroad Passenger Company (Amtrak), is engaged in the | 7 |
| beginning stages of a redevelopment of the station; and | 8 |
| WHEREAS, There remains a risk that the Great Hall might be | 9 |
| converted to retail space in a manner that renders it unusable | 10 |
| for train passengers; and | 11 |
| WHEREAS, Current redevelopment plans call for construction | 12 |
| of a new passenger waiting facility, at substantial cost for | 13 |
| which no funding exists; and | 14 |
| WHEREAS, An ideal passenger waiting facility already | 15 |
| exists in the Great Hall; therefore, be it | 16 |
| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL | 17 |
| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we call on Amtrak to | 18 |
| retain the Great Hall as a passenger waiting and ticketing | 19 |
| area, so Chicago Union Station will serve as an attractive, | 20 |
| convenient hub for a growing and dynamic nationwide passenger |
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| train service network.
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